Molested youngster's father sues Medford district

Thursday

Mar 28, 2013 at 12:15 AMMar 28, 2013 at 3:15 AM

The father of a boy who was molested by a convicted sexual predator is suing the Medford School District for $5 million for allegedly allowing the boy to leave school with the man without parental approval.

By chris conrad

The father of a boy who was molested by a convicted sexual predator is suing the Medford School District for $5 million for allegedly allowing the boy to leave school with the man without parental approval.

The civil claim alleges the boy was sexually abused by Richard Lee Taylor, 59, after Taylor picked him up from McLoughlin Middle School.

On Oct. 15, 2009, the boy fell ill at school and wanted to leave, according to court documents. The boy was then released into the custody of Taylor, who at the time was a registered sex offender, the documents claim.

"The school broke its own policy," said attorney Tim Williams, who is representing the boy and his father. "School policy allows students to be released only to their own parents, legal guardian or an authorized individual."

Williams included a section of the school district's policy, which states, "During school hours or while engaging in school-sponsored activities, students will be released only into the custody of parents or other authorized persons."

The district adopted the policy in 1992, Williams said.

Named in the lawsuit are Medford School District Superintendant Phil Long and McLoughlin Middle School Principal Amy Tiger.

Long declined to comment on the pending litigation when contacted Wednesday afternoon.

The suit claims the school released the boy into Taylor's custody after failing to make contact with the boy's parents and grandparents.

Williams declined to comment on the boy's connection to Taylor.

The boy was one of two children abused by Taylor, who was sentenced to 22 life sentences last year after he was convicted of five counts each of using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct, first-degree sexual abuse, second-degree sodomy and three counts each of first- and second-degree encouraging child sexual abuse.

The criminal case against Taylor began in October 2009 when a school official learned Taylor had sexually abused two 12-year-old boys. Medford sex crimes detectives found that Taylor was a family friend of one victim's parents.

The lawsuit claims the victim suffered severe physical and emotional injury from the abuse.

Taylor's brother-in-law found about 30 mini-DVDs used in video cameras among Taylor's belongings. Upon viewing them, the brother-in-law found child pornography recorded on the discs and went to police. The recordings showed Taylor sexually abusing the victims.

The lawsuit is capped at a maximum of $5 million, Williams said.

He added that his Bend-based law firm, which tries cases across the state, rarely sees this type of case.

"It's exceedingly rare," Williams said. "I take no joy in suing the district. They mostly do a great job of keeping kids safe, but we feel that mistakes were made here and the district needs to be held accountable."

Williams said the case could drag on for close to year, as each side will begin sifting through the numerous documents related to the criminal case.

Among other items, Williams' firm will request the full report into Taylor's case from the Jackson County District Attorney's Office.